Tips for preventing skin cancer and keeping skin healthy

by jmaloni

Thu, Jan 3rd 2013 09:50 am

by
the Skin Cancer Foundation

Adopting
healthy skin habits in 2013 could save your life. Thousands of people
in the United States die each year from skin cancer, a highly
preventable and treatable disease. Skin cancer can affect anyone,
regardless of age or skin color, which is why making skin health a
priority should be on everyone's list of New Year's resolutions.

With
an easy to remember acronym, S.K.I.N., The Skin Cancer Foundation is
proposing four simple steps for keeping skin cancer prevention and
skin health top of mind in 2013 and beyond: Skip
the tanning bed, keep
up with skin exams, ignore
the myths, and never
skimp on sun protection.

Skip
the tanning bed

New
research findings reveal that just one indoor UV tanning session
increases the risk of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin
cancer, by 20 percent, and each additional session during the same
year boosts the risk almost another 2 percent. Each year in the
United States more than 9,000 people die of melanoma. Overall, indoor
UV tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those
who have never tanned indoors, and those who begin tanning before the
age of 35 increase their melanoma risk by almost 90 percent.

Keep
up with skin exams

Skin
cancers found and removed early are almost always curable. The
five-year survival rate for patients whose melanoma is detected
early, before the tumor has penetrated the skin, is about 98 percent.
The survival rate falls significantly when the disease has the chance
to metastasize (spread) throughout the body. Check your skin from
head-to-toe each month, and visit a dermatologist annually for a
professional skin exam. If you notice any change in an existing mole
or discover a new one that looks suspicious, see a physician
immediately. Visit www.SkinCancer.org
to download a guide to self-exams and find a local dermatologist with
the Foundation's Physician Finder.

Ignore
the myths (and learn the facts)

There
are many misconceptions surrounding skin health, particularly when it
comes to skin cancer and sun protection. For example, spending time
outdoors without sun protection is not the best way to obtain vitamin
D; doing so will increase your risk of skin cancers, premature skin
aging and a weakened immune system. Vitamin D can be acquired safely
through diet and supplements.

Another
common myth is that you need sun protection only on sunny days. The
intensity of the sun's UV rays is not simply linked to air
temperature, and while bright, hot, sunny days always pose UV risks,
you can damage your skin on cold or cloudy days as well. This is
because even when it's overcast, between 50 and 80 percent of UV
rays penetrate the clouds to reach the skin.

Never
skimp on sun protection (even indoors)

The
foundation recommends adopting a complete sun-protection regimen:
cover up with protective clothing (including wide-brimmed hats and
UV-blocking sunglasses), seek shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and
wear sunscreen every day. Because UVA radiation can pass through
glass, be mindful of sun protection even while at home and in the
car. Consider installing window film, which can block almost 100
percent of UVA radiation from penetrating glass.